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The diversity disclosures by Canadian corporations are examined to show how references to ‘merit’ and ‘diversity’ are used strategically by many corporations to support the gendered status quo and to resist pressures to increase the representation of women on boards. References to ‘merit’ and ‘diversity’ in the first mandatory corporate governance diversity disclosures of a sample of corporations from the Toronto Stock Exchange are analyzed using critical discourse analysis to assess the extent to which these disclosures are used to legitimize current board recruitment practices and to maintain the gendered status quo. We find that corporations referring to merit in their disclosures tend to have fewer women directors than corporations that do not mention merit. In addition, we assess the readability of the disclosures. We find that those referring to merit tend to be less readable, suggesting efforts to obfuscate. This …